A Royal (dis)HHonor: Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways Royal Silk Business Class Lounge Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

As I sit here and try to write this installment, I just can’t get any words out. It’s not that I don’t know what to say, it’s that I have so much to say and I don’t know where to begin. Truthfully this has been the most difficult trip report I’ve ever written, simply because with every installment I’ve had flashbacks of this flight in my head, and I feel like a total idiot about it. So let me give it a shot, at least…

Royal Jordanian 182
Bangkok (BKK) – Hong Kong (HKG)
Saturday, March 30
Depart: 3:25PM
Arrive: 7:00PM
Duration: 2hr35min
Aircraft: Airbus A330
Seat: 3H (Business Class)

I was kind of excited to try Royal Jordanian on this route. Bangkok to Hong Kong is one of those unique routes that’s operated by a bunch of carriers on a “fifth freedom” basis. Heck, Emirates, Ethiopian, Kenya Airways, and Royal Jordanian all operate this flight as a “tag.” So rather than flying Cathay Pacific on the route in their regional business class we decided to fly Royal Jordanian. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to sample them without flying them longhaul. It’s my goal to review as many airlines as possible, so I couldn’t not do it. Besides, I’d flown the three Middle Eastern giants — Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar — and was curious to see how Royal Jordanian compared.

Upon boarding through door 1L we were acknowledged by three flight attendants. They were all Jordanian men and wearing pinstriped button downs, which actually looked pretty sharp.

We quickly found our seats in row three. Royal Jordanian has angled flat seats in business class on their A330s and while they’re probably not the most comfortable in the world for longhaul flights, for a flight between Bangkok and Hong Kong they’re tough to beat. The design and colors of the seats were sufficiently neutral so that I neither loved nor hated them. The cabin consisted of 24 seats across four rows, each of which was in a 2-2-2 configuration.

Our seats in row three

Seats in row four

Legroom

At each seat was an unwrapped pillow and blanket.

Pillow and blanket Read More…

Posted on May 22nd, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Other Airlines, Travel, Trip Reports | 45 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Thai Airways Royal Silk Business Class Lounge Bangkok

We got to the airport shortly before 2PM for our 3:25PM departure.

Airport exterior

While the Bangkok Airport terminal feels sterile and bland, it’s impressive and airy nonetheless.

Check-in area

We quickly found Royal Jordanian check-in, which was located in row “Q.”

Royal Jordanian check-in Read More…

Posted on May 21st, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Thai, Travel, Trip Reports | 11 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Le Meridien Bangkok

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

Bangkok is one of my favorite cities in the world as far as luxury hotels go. I can’t think of any other city with as many reasonably priced five star hotels as Bangkok. So while I would have loved to sample another great luxury hotel in Bangkok, the purpose of this stay was a bit different. We were in Bangkok for just a night, and when it comes to not-so-classy nightlife the location of the Le Meridien is tough to beat, as it’s close to Patpong Night Market.

I’ll keep this review pretty short, as I’ve stayed at the Le Meridien before, and wrote an extensive review of my stay here, so check that out for full details of the hotel. Instead I’ll just focus on what was different this stay.

We had booked the Le Meridien the day of our arrival and it cost a bit over $100USD for the night, a rate at which it didn’t make sense to use points. The website wasn’t showing any suites available, so we had no expectations of a suite upgrade.

Check-in was efficient and we were informed that we had been upgraded. I wasn’t expecting any sort of an upgrade, so I was impressed. We were assigned room 2218, which was a “circular” room on the 22nd floor.

The room was just under 400 square feet and featured a king size circular bed, a couch with seating for three, a desk, and a flat screen TV.

Circular room

Circular bed

Desk Read More…

Posted on May 20th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Hotels, SPG, Travel, Trip Reports | 23 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

While a coach flight within Thailand is hardly an aspirational travel experience worth writing about, I have to say that Bangkok Airways is one of the most unique airlines I’ve flown. They market themselves as “Asia’s boutique airline,” as they offer some pretty elaborate meal services on short flights and also have lounges for all passengers. And for that matter Koh Samui Airport is an equally unique airport, so hopefully you guys find this interesting.

As I said in the introduction, our coach tickets cost a bit over $100USD per person, which was reasonable. Business class is only a mild premium, though for our date unfortunately the only flight with availability was one of their single cabin A319s, not featuring a business class cabin.

The first thing to note is that just for joining Bangkok Airways’ frequent flyer program, FlyerBonus, you get an extra 10kg baggage allowance. So before flying with them be sure you join if you intend to check a bag. Their normal baggage allowance is 20kg (~44 pounds), so just for being a member you get a 30kg (~66 pounds) baggage allowance. If you’re connecting off an international premium cabin itinerary with heavy bags, that will save you a lot of money.

We were able to check out of the Conrad at 4PM, and made it to the airport by 4:45PM for our 6:50PM flight. The airport is entirely “open air,” so originally I was dreading the time we’d have to spend outside, given that it was close 100 degrees. We were dropped off right in front of the Bangkok Airways check-in counter.

Check-in

The check-in queues were crazy. I mean, literally the longest airport queues I’ve ever seen anywhere. It’s not really surprising, given just how many flights Bangkok Airways has out of Koh Samui. Heck, between 6PM and 7PM they had three flights to Bangkok alone, not factoring in their other destinations.

Check-in queues

And this is where the next tip comes into play — just for doing online check-in you get access to their business class check-in queue. The main queue must have been over an hour long, while there were only two parties ahead of us in the business class line. So be sure to do online check-in.

Web check-in queues Read More…

Posted on May 19th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Other Airlines, Travel, Trip Reports | 26 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Conrad Koh Samui

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

As I discussed in the introduction post, while the initial plan for this trip was to go to Bali, Hilton’s decision to more or less castrate their HHonors program caused us to change our plans and go to Koh Samui instead. The Conrad was available for four nights on an AXON award (available to those with a co-branded Hilton American Express card) for 145,000 points. The hotel went from ordinarily costing 50,000 points per night to 95,000 points per night. Meanwhile category 10 AXON awards will cost 300,000 points starting in a few weeks, meaning the cost of this stay has more than doubled.

The Conrad is an all villa property located on the southern tip of Koh Samui, almost exactly on the opposite side of the island as the airport. We had arranged transport with the hotel in advance, and it cost about $50USD for the hotel’s Toyota SUV (which was comfortable). The ride to the hotel took just a bit under an hour, and the last part of the drive was especially interesting, as we drove up a series of extremely steep hills to the top of the resort.

At the top of the hill was the resort’s reception area, which was open air. The views were stunning.

Resort entrance

View from the resort’s driveway

View from the lobby

It was early, still before 11AM, so they asked us to take a seat while they processed our check-in. They also offered us cold towels and some tea.

Cold towels and tea Read More…

Posted on May 16th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Hilton, Hotels, Travel, Trip Reports | 45 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

SilkAir 772
Singapore (SIN) – Koh Samui (USM)
Monday, March 25
Depart: 9:00AM
Arrive: 9:50AM
Duration: 1hr50min
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Seat: 2C (Business Class)

Upon boarding we were welcomed by two flight attendants dressed in bright orange and green uniforms. They directed us to our seats in row two.

View of the coach cabin from business class

The SilkAir A319s have eight business class seats, each with about 40 inches of pitch (slightly more than domestic first class in the US). At each seat was a pillow and blanket.

Our seats

Legroom

Each seat had a legrest which wasn’t especially useful with only 40″ of pitch, and three manual control levers on the right side of the seat.

Seat controls Read More…

Posted on May 14th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Singapore, Travel, Trip Reports | 21 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

We arrived at Changi Airport terminal two at around 7:30AM.

Terminal exterior

Terminal interior

Departures board

We quickly found the SilkAir business class check-in counter, where there was no queue. Within a couple of minutes our boarding passes were printed and we were invited to use the Silver Kris Lounge.

SilkAir check-in Read More…

Posted on May 13th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Singapore, Travel, Trip Reports | 15 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: St. Regis Singapore

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

Singapore is one of those hotel markets I really struggle with, as I outlined in this post. I’ve stayed at the Conrad, Crowne Plaza, Grand Hyatt, InterContinental, Marina Bay Sands, and Shangri-La, though have wanted to try the St. Regis since it opened about five years ago. Rates have always been outrageous when I looked, though for this stay the St. Regis was about $290USD. For a one night stay that seemed worthwhile for the sake of reviewing the property.

The St. Regis is a category six Starwood property, making it 20,000 Starpoints per night, or 10,000 Starpoints plus $180 using “cash & points.” I considered outright paying for the stay a better choice than either of the points options. I even applied one of my suite night awards to the reservation (Platinum members with at least 50 nights per year earn 10 of them), and five days out was confirmed into a St. Regis Suite, which I was pleased with.

We got to the St. Regis before 1PM after taking a taxi from the airport.

The exterior of the hotel was beautiful, and we were assisted by two bellman as we pulled up.

Hotel exterior

We were escorted to the lobby, and invited to take a seat at one of the check-in desks on the left. I do love how most St. Regis properties let you “sit down” while checking in, though far too often it’s not well executed with long queues. That wasn’t the case here.

Lobby

The agent checking us in was friendly, though informed us our St. Regis Suite wasn’t ready yet (I had emailed the hotel in advance to inform them of our early arrival time, though of course they have no way of guaranteeing that). They suggested we leave our bags there and come back at around 3PM when our room would hopefully be ready. Given that we were leaving very early the following morning and didn’t care that much about the type of room, I asked about the possibility of downgrading to a standard room, which they said they could do, though after calling Starwood they said my suite upgrade couldn’t be redeposited.

As an alternative the agent offered a further upgrade to a Caroline Astor Suite for 150SGD. Fair enough offer, though since we were leaving early the following morning and planned on spending most of our time outside the hotel, I wasn’t planning on spending even more money on the stay.

So I asked when a suite would realistically be available. She said both St. Regis Suites were still occupied and they both had 4PM check-out, so we’d get whichever opened up first.

Okay, check-in time is 3PM, and realistically it could have very well been 5PM before we had our room. So I asked about the possibility of getting a temporary room until the suite was ready. After checking with the duty manager the agent offered us the Caroline Astor Suite at no extra cost. I appreciated the fact that the agent was able to apply logic to the situation rather than just “going by the rules.” I would have been really ticked if we could only check in at 5PM due to Platinums checking out late, so I’m happy they were proactive.

We were escorted up to our room on the 10^th floor (1001). I was mildly entertained by the fact that the elevator had a small bench. Totally necessary, right?

Elevator Read More…

Posted on May 12th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Hotels, SPG, Travel, Trip Reports | 25 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

We landed at around 6:40AM, and by the time we cleared transit security and found ourselves at The Wing it was 7:10AM, meaning we had less than 20 minutes in the lounge before we needed to head to the gate for our 8AM departure. This was actually my first visit to The Wing since it was renovated, though I’ll share most of my impressions of the lounge with my return trip report, where I had a much longer (and more eventful) layover than on the outbound.

The Wing seating

Once in The Wing I requested a cabana so I could grab a quick shower. My gosh, these are probably the nicest shower rooms in any airport, and that includes those in the Lufthansa First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.

Cabana

Cabana Read More…

Posted on May 9th, 2013 by lucky
Filed under: Awards, Cathay Pacific, Travel, Trip Reports | 59 Comments »

A Royal (dis)HHonor: Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong

Introduction
Aloft San Francisco Airport
Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco
Cathay Pacific First Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to Singapore
St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge Singapore
SilkAir Business Class Singapore to Koh Samui
Conrad Koh Samui
Bangkok Airways Economy Class Koh Samui to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Royal Jordanian Business Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific “The Wing” First Class Lounge Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

Cathay Pacific 873
San Francisco (SFO) – Hong Kong (HKG)
Saturday, March 23
Depart: 12:05AM
Arrive: 6:00AM (+1 day)
Duration: 14hr55min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 1K (First Class)

At the door we were greeted by the inflight service manager, Laurena, who pointed us towards our seats. While Cathay Pacific has had their current first class product for years now, it’s still one of the sleekest products out there, in my opinion. I settled into 1K, while my friend settled into 1D.

My seat, 1K